It holds the promise of opening up new frontiers for the integration of journalism and art in a socially oriented 21st-century performance piece poised at technology’s cutting edge.
Category: AUDIENCE
The Small Town Orchestra Manager That Could
Jane Hill runs the small Eureka Symphony in California. She’s pragmatic, creative, and has strong ideas about what her orchestra’s role in her community is. “Hill’s notion is that a programming strategy must be flexible and relevant but also ambitious. “Any small town orchestra having to focus on Pops concerts, film music, and country and western music to stay alive — I shouldn’t be critical but I really believe this — to me that means they’ve chosen to limit what they think the audience will buy, with the result that no one is paying close attention to broadening the classical-music taste and interests of the audience. Or the potential audience.”
In St. Paul, A Theatre Known For Its ‘Radical Engagement With The Community’ Will Shutter Its Doors
“I feel good about the vision that we have shared with the Twin Cities and nationally for 25 years. … I feel like it has inspired a lot and I feel hopeful that some of the principles of Bedlam—radical community engagement and making theatregoing fun—that those things continue to impact.”
Opera Is *Not* Too Posh And Exclusive, And If You Think It Is, It’s Your Own Damn Fault, Says Opera Boss
“I continue to argue incessantly with people who claim opera is for the rich, unattainable, impenetrable, elitist and from a parallel universe,” writes Michael Volpe, general director of London’s Opera Holland Park. “I swear and shout and stamp my feet – well, I used to, but I stopped doing that because it doesn’t work.”
Research: What Kind Of Arts Video Do Audiences Want?
“Based on our research data, digital content has two functions primarily: it develops the audience’s familiarity with the company’s work, and it aligns their expectations of a particular performance. Rather than using supporting materials to make a purchase decision, audiences tend to consume them after booking their tickets, to gain an insight into the story and creative process, reassure themselves of the quality of the company and production, and increase their level of anticipation ahead of the performance.”
Remember Bookmobiles? Here’s A Book Boat
“The Perahu Pustaka (Book Boat) is sorely needed. … More than 10% of the [province of] West Sulawesi’s adult population cannot read, while in many villages, the only book available is a solitary copy of the Quran. So in 2015, local news journalist Muhammad Ridwan Alimuddin decided to combine his twin passions for books and boats by setting up a mobile library on a baqgo, a small traditional sailboat.”
Now *This* Is A Public Service: Cairo Bookstore Provides Room Where Customers Can Go To Scream
“Visitors to a bookshop in Cairo are being invited into a dark, soundproof room to scream at the top of their lungs in an effort to relieve their frustrations and escape from the stresses of daily life. The new ‘scream room’ is tucked away in the “The World’s Door” [Bab Aldounia] bookshop and is also equipped with a full drum kit allowing customers to let go of their worries.” (includes video)
Taking The ‘Hall’ Out Of ‘Concert Hall’ – Classical Organizations Move Into Un-Classical Venues
“Arts administrators are united in the belief that spreading music as far as possible, in both the digital and physical worlds, is more than just a marketing gimmick: It’s a strategy for survival. The world is full of intellectually curious, artistically adventurous young people who would no more buy a ticket to hear Brahms’s Requiem in concert at Geffen Hall than they would stick a stamp on a handwritten letter.”
Preview Periods For Plays Will Disappear ‘In My Lifetime’, Says Leading Director
Michael Grandage: “One of the jobs of a director, and certainly I see it as one of my jobs, is to make sure the rehearsal period is such that when you get to that first preview, you are effectively getting to an opening night. … Opening previews will be opening nights before too much longer in some form. They already are, if you like, because of social media.”
In American Popular Culture, There’s No Such Thing As A Bad Police Shooting
“Decade after decade, pop culture has continued to churn out stories that justify and even lionize officers who kill. These stories first turned shootings – and they are almost always shootings – into acts of last resort by noble policemen, and later into exciting executions of dangerous villains. Hollywood has promoted the very myths that result in our being shocked when we see an officer shoot a fleeing person or fire into a parked car, as well as an inflated narrative of valor that generates a near-automatic presumption of the guilt of those killed by police.”